Chatham’s Business and Entrepreneurship Department is proud to offer a myriad of opportunities for students to expand their knowledge in their majors and apply their learning in real-world settings. Alice Shy took advantage of many of these opportunities during her time at Chatham.  She recently earned her Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Media Arts  with a concentration in Film and Digital Technology.  For two years in a row, Alice Shy took  part of the winning team for Pittsburgh Advertising Federation’s “The Pitch – Collegiate Advertising Competition” and participated in the American Marketing Association Case Competition in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Alice graduated in Spring 2017.

Alice sees marketing and media arts as complementary fields that prepare her for a competitive edge in providing creative solutions for clients. Choosing Chatham was simple for Alice.  It was her top choice because it provided a small college feel, and, “of course, the gorgeous campus was a bonus!”

Inside the classroom, Alice demonstrated a keenness for her fields of study many times over. It all started in her BUS243 Principles of Marketing class. Here, Alice found her passion for strategy in successful marketing. From there, her enthusiasm continued through BUS312 Marketing Research where she created a marketing campaign for the American Marketing Association Case Competition. Again, displaying her fervor for tactics, Alice’s contribution to the promotion and communication strategy to reach target markets propelled the team into one of the finalist positions.

In her final term at Chatham, Alice took BUS496 Digital Marketing with instructor Andrew Garberson from Lunametrics. In this course, students were divided into teams and then paired with an organization in the community.  Using the skills and techniques learned in class, they were given an allowance to create a marketing campaign for their corporate partner. This benefited both the local businesses and prepared students for real-world decisions in the marketing arena. In another class, Marketing Management (BUS671), Alice prepared a marketing plan for PPG Paint retail stores.  She presented the PPG campaign to clients for judging at Robert Morris University at the 4th Annual AMA Pittsburgh Collegiate Marketing Competition where her team won 3rd place.

Outside of the classroom, Alice has applied her studies in various positions and made a lasting impact. Alice completed an internship at the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition where she learned the back-end of a non-profit operation. Using her film background, Alice produced a two-minute animated infographic highlighting the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.

Among Alice’s most notable accomplishments over her college career have been her participation in “The Pitch”.  Alice stated, “I first found out about the competition through Dr. Debbie DeLong. She mentioned it during one of my classes. The business department sponsored me to go to the event.” The Pitch is an advertising competition for college students to collaborate in teams and produce marketing campaign for a selected institution, business, or organization in Pittsburgh.

Alice recalls, “My first year competing, 2015, the event was hosted by Marc USA, and in fall semester, 2016, the competition took place at Brunner. Upon arriving at the competition, we’d meet with our team, usually seven to ten students from Pitt, Point Park, Penn State, Art Institute, and Youngstown, for the first time. Then we’d be briefed about the challenge. The client is usually a non-profit. With my competition teams, I worked for Girls Hope Pittsburgh and YMCA.”

During her time in The Pitch, Alice said, “The best part of the competition was getting to work in an agency setting. It is a great method to find out if this is the kind of environment you work best in. Also, I really enjoyed the work I was producing. In the 2016 Pitch competition, I suggested the development of a microsite geared toward millennials for the YMCA.” Using Alice’s suggestion, in conjunction with her other team members’ ideas and input, Team Brunner was able to secure the first place prize on November 11, 2016, for creating an ad campaign for the North Boroughs YMCA.

Chatham, being a small learning community, allows for close connections to be made, especially in classes that focus on group tasks. While having the benefit of these Chatham opportunities, The Pitch provided Alice an excellent chance to see how she works with different personalities outside of Chatham, strengthening her teamwork skills. Alice recommends that students should participate in outside events that align with their passions, so they can form connections while improving their skills.

On top of her coursework and participating in student competitions, Alice also worked at the Circulation Desk in the Jennie King-Mellon Library. She particularly enjoyed the environment the academic space provides. Additionally, Alice was the Vice President of Communications for the Chatham Marketing Association (CMA) where she sent out organization and member updates as well as produced flyers for CMA sponsored events. Now, Alice is completing a summer marketing internship at Lunametrics and is looking to pursue a career in advertising in an agency setting.

Alice has one word of advice for current and future students: “If you’re at all interested in marketing, definitely join the Chatham Marketing Association and participate in the case competitions. It is a lot of work, but it will give you a great resume boost. Plus, New Orleans (where the American Marketing Association Collegiate Conference is held) is tons of fun!”

All of Chatham loves to see students succeed, but the Business and Entrepreneurship Department is especially proud of Alice and her work with CMA and The Pitch. All the best, and a successful future, to Alice Shy!